A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

Node 3

Node 4

Node 1
Node 2

Luke Klein-Berndt
Wireless Communications Technologies Group
National Institute of Standards and Technology

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

AODV is a method of
routing messages between
mobile computers. It allows
these mobile computers, or
nodes, to pass messages
through their neighbors to
nodes with which they
cannot directly
communicate. AODV does
this by discovering the
routes along which
messages can be passed.
AODV makes sure these
routes do not contain loops
and tries to find the shortest
route possible. AODV is
also able to handle changes
in routes and can create
new routes if there is an
error.
The diagram to the left
shows a set up of four
nodes on a wireless
network. The circles
illustrate the range of
communication for each
node. Because of the
limited range, each node
can only communicate with
the nodes next to it.

Message

Node 3

Node 4

Node 1
Node 2

Node 5

Node 1 wants to
send a message to
Node 3.
Unfortunately it is
unsure of the route
to get there

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

Nodes you can communicate

with directly are considered to
be Neighbors. A node keeps
track of its Neighbors by
listening for a HELLO message
that each node broadcast at set
intervals.
When one node needs to send
a message to another node that
is not its Neighbor it broadcasts
a Route Request (RREQ)
message. The RREQ message
contains several key bits of
information: the source, the
destination, the lifespan of the
message and a Sequence
Number which serves as a
unique ID.
In the example, Node 1 wishes
to send a message to Node 3.
Node 1s Neighbors are Nodes
2 + 4. Since Node 1 can not
directly communicate with Node
3, Node 1 sends out a RREQ.
The RREQ is heard by Node 4
and Node 2.

Dest: Node 3
A packet of data

Neighbors
Node 2
Node 6

Since Node 3 is not a

Neighboring node, Node
1 has to discover a route.
It does this by generating
a Route Request and
broadcasting it.

Route Request Packet

Dest: Node 3
Src: Node 1
Lifespane: 3
ID: 0

Node 1

Node 4

RREQ
RREQ
Node 1
Node 2

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

When Node 1s Neighbors

receive the RREQ message
they have two choices; if they
know a route to the
destination or if they are the
destination they can send a
Route Reply (RREP)
message back to Node 1,
otherwise they will
rebroadcast the RREQ to
their set of Neighbors. The
message keeps getting
rebroadcast until its lifespan is
up. If Node 1 does not receive
a reply in a set amount of
time, it will rebroadcast the
request except this time the
RREQ message will have a
longer lifespan and a new ID
number. All of the Nodes use
the Sequence Number in the
RREQ to insure that they do
not rebroadcast a RREQ
In the example, Node 2 has a
route to Node 3 and replies to
the RREQ by sending out a
RREP. Node 4 on the other
hand does not have a route to
Node 3 so it rebroadcasts the
RREQ.

Node 3 recieves
a Route Reply
and adds a Route
to Node 1 which
goes through
Node 2

Node 6 does not

have a route to
Node 3 so it
rebroadcasts the
RREQ message

Node 3

RREQ

RREQ

Node 4

Node 1

RREP
Node 2

Node 5

Route Reply Packet

Dest: Node 3
Src: Node 1
Hop Count: 2
ID: 136

Route Reply Packet

To Node 1

Dest: Node 1
Src: Node 3
Hop Count: 2
ID: 136

To Node 3
Node 2

Neighbors
Node 2 has a route to Node 3 it send a
Route reply to Node 1. It also send a Route
reply to Node 3 so it will know how to
contact Node 1.

Node 1
Node 3

Sequence Numbers
Sequence numbers serve
as time stamps. They allow
nodes to compare how
fresh their information on
other nodes is. Every time a
node sends out any type of
message it increase its own
Sequence number. Each
node records the Sequence
number of all the other
nodes it talks to. A higher
Sequence numbers signifies
a fresher route. This it is
possible for other nodes to
figure out which one has
more accurate information.
In the example, Node 1 is
forwarding a RREP to Node
4. It notices that the route in
the RREP has a better
Sequence number than the
route in its Routing List.
Node 1 then replaces the
route it currently has with
the route in the Route Reply

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

Node Data
Seq #: 136

Node 3

Node 4

RREP

RREP
RREP
Node 1
Node 2
Routing List

Node
4
3
2

Next Hop Seq #

4
2
2

78
128
114

Route Reply Packet

Hop Cnt
1
2
1

Seq #: 128 < 136

Dest: Node 3
Src: Node 4
Hop Count: 3
Seq #: 136

When Node 1 forwards the RREP it

also compares it with the route it has
in its Routing List. Since the RREP
has a higher Sequence number it is
newer than the on in the Routing list.
Because of this, Node 1 updates it list
with the new route

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

Error Messages
The Route Error Message (RERR) allows
AODV to adjust routes when Nodes move
around.

1.

2.

Whenever a Node receives RERR it looks at

the Routing Table and removes all the routes
that contain the bad Nodes.

In the second scenario the Node receives a

RERR that cause at least one of its Route to
become invalidated. If it happens, the Node
would then send out a RERR with all the new
Nodes which are now unreachable
In the third scenario the Node detects that it
cannot communicate with one of its Neighbors.
When this happens it looks at the route table
for Route that use the Neighbor for a next hop
and marks them as invalid. Then it sends out a
RERR with the Neighbor and the invalid routes

Node
4
3

Next Hop Seq #

4
4

78
128

Hop Cnt
1
2

Node 4

The diagrams to the left illustrate the three

circumstances under which a Node would
broadcast a RERR to its neighbors.
In the first scenario the Node receives a Data
packet that it is supposed to forward but it
does not have a route to the destination. The
real problem is not that the Node does not
have a route; the problem is that some other
node thinks that the correct Route to the
Destination is through that Node.

Routing Table

The Route to
the destination
of the Packet is
unkown!

Data Packet

Node 4

Route Error

Dest: Node 3
Src: Node 1
Data: 010101

Node 3

3.

The Node recieves a

Route Error message
for a Node which is in
its Routing Table

A link break is detected with the Node's

neighbors

Node 4

Routing Table
Node
4
3
5

Next Hop Seq #

4
5
5

78
128
114

Hop Cnt

Node 5

1
2
1

A Quick Guide to AODV Routing

AODV Characteristics:

Will find routes only as needed

Use of Sequence numbers to track accuracy of information
Only keeps track of next hop for a route instead of the entire route
Use of periodic HELLO messages to track Neighbors

References:

IETF Manet Working Group AODV Draft

http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-manet-aodv-08.txt